04/22/2026
Check out some of the lovely early spring blooming species installed at Moosylvania Marketing in Maplewood, Missouri less than two years ago. Starting on the left, Wild Columbine [Aquilegia canadensis] is a dependable bloomer with cute little red and yellow flowers and beautiful foliage that lasts until frost, long after the blooms have faded. Golden grounsel, with its numerous tiny yellow flowers, provides food to emerging bees and other pollinators. Virginia bluebells [Mertensia virginica] are ephemeral in nature, blooming for three to four weeks in the spring before the entire plant goes dormant until next spring. At Moosylvania, they are interplanted with Ostrich ferns [Matteuccia struthiopteris], a tough Missouri native fern that begins emerging from dormancy about the same time the bluebells are preparing to sleep. Lastly, check out the Dwarf Crested Iris’ [Iris cristata] lavendar-blue blossoms. Under the right conditions, these tough little plants are great ground covers in the native plant garden.
